Evgeniya S. Degtyareva

Various transition metal particles on assorted carbon supports form the family of metal-on-carbon (M/C) catalysts, which are of particular importance for the chemical industry and laboratory research. Obtaining comprehensive information about the structure of these materials at different scales is essential for developing new synthesis methods, identifying potential applications, and predicting M/C properties. Although electron microscopy is a convenient method for the direct visualization of supported metal particles, the locality and specificity of such analysis can limit the establishment of relationships between the observed nanostructure and catalytic properties. This paper introduces an approach for converting local microscopy data into quantitative structural metrics for catalytic studies. A series of palladium-on-graphite (Pd/C) materials was synthesized and characterized using a digital assistant for rapid image processing, enabling a multiparametric description of the nanoscale phase through metal surface density and particle distribution parameters. Applied to Mizoroki–Heck and transfer hydrogenation reactions, these descriptors revealed nanoparticle-promoted and nanoparticle-suppressed catalytic behavior, highlighting an alternative perspective on evaluating the role of nanoscale phases in supported metal catalysts. Rather than replacing traditional structural and mechanistic approaches, this method was shown to complement them, expanding electron microscopy applications in catalytic system design.

Herein we describe Pd‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reaction of α‐pinene derivative – pinacarvone O‐methyl oxime (1) with aryl halides (2). Surprisingly, the formation of the C−C coupling product was accompanied by an unexpected opening of the pinene bicyclic structure. The (Z)‐2‐aryl‐4,4,5‐trimethylcyclohexa‐2,5‐dien‐1‐one O‐methyl oxime (3) was formed as the resulting product. The reaction conditions of the developed synthetic procedure were carefully optimized and the reaction mechanism was supposed on the basis of data obtained by structural and computational methods.

Petroleum contains a large number of heteroatomic compounds, but today, most of them are not efficiently utilized. The constant development of the sustainability concept recalls for rethinking the usage of fossil resources with improved chemical utility. In order to initiate research aimed at involving active petroleum compounds in chemical transformations, a new analytical method for product detection is needed. Here, we study the click reaction of thiols with alkynes, leading to the formation of α-vinyl sulfides directly in the petroleum environment. The reaction was carried out using an (IMes)Pd(acac)Cl catalyst, which demonstrated tolerance to petroleum components. In this study, the concentration of thiols ranged from 1 M to 0.01 M (from 8% to 0.1%). To detect products at low concentrations, a special alkyne labeled with an imidazole moiety was used. This approach made it possible to observe the formation of vinyl sulfides by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), which provides an opportunity for further optimization of the reaction conditions and future developments for the direct involvement of oil components in chemical reactions.

The development of approaches for creation of adaptive and stimuli-responsive chemical systems is particularly important for chemistry, materials science, and biotechnology. The understanding of response mechanisms for various external forces is highly demanded for the rational design of task-specific systems. Here, we report direct liquid-phase scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations of the high frequency sound-wave-driven restructuring of liquid media on the microlevel, leading to switching of its chemical behavior. We show that under the action of ultrasound, the microstructured ionic liquid/water mixture undergoes rearrangement resulting in formation of separated phases with specific compositions and reactivities. The observed effect was successfully utilized for creation of dissipative soft microreactors formed in ionic liquid/water media during the sonication-driven water transfer. The performance of the microreactors was demonstrated using the example of controlled synthesis of small and uniform gold and palladium nanoparticles. The microsonication stage, designed and used in the present study, opened unique opportunities for direct sonochemical studies with the use of electron microscopy.

In this work, the transfer of the flexible and easily tunable hierarchical structure of nickel organochalcogenides to different binary Ni-based nanomaterials via selective coupling of organic units was developed. We suggested the use of substituted aryl groups in organosulfur ligands (SAr) as traceless structure-inducing units to prepare nanostructured materials. At the first step, it was shown that the slight variation of the type of SAr units and synthetic procedures allowed us to obtain nickel thiolates [Ni(SAr)₂]_n with diverse morphologies after a self-assembly process in solution. This feature opened the way for the synthesis of different nanomaterials from a single type of precursor using the phenomenon of direct transfer of morphology. This study revealed that various nickel thiolates undergo selective C–S coupling under high-temperature conditions with the formation of highly demanding nanostructured NiS particles and corresponding diaryl sulfides. The in situ oxidation of the formed nickel sulfide in the case of reaction in an air atmosphere provided another type of valuable nanomaterial, nickel oxide. The high selectivity of the transformation allowed the preservation of the initial organochalcogenide morphologies in the resulting products.

The great impact of the nanoscale organization of reactive species on their performance in chemical transformations creates the possibility of fine-tuning of reaction parameters by modulating the nano-level properties. This methodology is extensively applied for the catalysts development whereas nanostructured reactants represent the practically unexplored area. Here we report the palladium- and copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction involving nano-structured nickel thiolate particles as reagents. On the basis of experimental findings we propose the cooperative effect of nano-level and molecular-level properties on their reactivity. The high degree of ordering, small particles size, and electron donating properties of the substituents favor the product formation. Reactant particles evolution in the reaction is visualized directly by dynamic liquid-phase electron microscopy including recording of video movies. Mechanism of the reaction in liquid phase is established using on-line mass spectrometry measurements. Together the findings provide new opportunities for organic chemical transformations design and for mechanistic studies.